AG Sessions asks for the resignation of 46 US Attorneys appointed by Obama

John SextonPosted at 5:21 pm on March 10, 2017

The Department of Justice announced Friday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was requesting that 46 remaining US Attorneys appointed by President Obama turn in their resignations. From Fox News:

The department said some attorneys, as in prior transitions, already had left the department. The statement said, “the Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition.”

“Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney’s Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders,” the statement added.

The Associated Press adds, “It is customary, though not automatic, for the country’s 93 U.S. attorneys to leave their positions once a new president is in office.” Obama allowed the US Attorneys appointed by President Bush to remain in office until their replacements had been confirmed.

Already, there are some suggesting a darker motive for this action:

A new POTUS can do what he wants with US attorneys, but coming when it does, this smacks of Trump paranoia about "deep state" conspiracies.